FEDERER IS OUT GOLDEN DREAM SHATTERED BY AMERICAN JAMES BLAKE

There's no bigger upset than the top seed getting beat in the quarter finals of a major event.James Blake(USA) defeated Roger Federer 6-4 7-6 to end Federer's Olympic Dream.Confidence is a major plus and all players go through that period of invincibility,recent losses have sent out a message to fellow tennis player's the "Fed Express" is beatable, players get that extra boost in confidence that may not of been there 6 months ago when Federer could not be beaten.When the going gets tough in a tight match on big points there can be self doubts that normally the champ would back himself and make a big play.
Federer's invincibility has gone he has become beatable, Blake had lost 8 in a row to Federer , I guess if you stick with it perseverance pays off!!!Federer had 56 unforced errors in the match, at times tennis can be a total mind game, certainly Federer has lost that mental edge for now , can he regain it? Changes will be a foot a fresh approach is needed maybe we will see a regular coach appear in the Players box, always change a losing game fed , you need to the US Open starts soon.Federer hasnt been settled all week and not been happy with the schedule.Read more about the match here

And out goes Serena Williams beaten in three sets by Elena Dementieva , this is the Olympic games, and history told us from previous Olympic's there will be upsets.

Too Hot To Handle!

The Olympic finals are heading towards a repeat Wimbledon Final for Men's and Ladies ,there is still a way to go and extreme heat conditions could play a big part in how players handle this energy sapping element in their next few rounds.For Young tennis players in conditions such as Beijing or even local climates its very important to avoid dehydration.Here are some tips 1.Hydrate off the court as well ,remember if you are feeling thirsty you are all ready getting dehydrated! 2.At change of ends take 4-8 gulps every time.3.Do not over drink plain water,if you are playing a long match just drinking water can dilute your electrolyte balance and promote cramping due to loss of sodium.4.Your choice of electrolytes should contain Sodium that helps retain the fluids in your muscles.Carbs(sugar5-8%)also help retain fluids and give you an added energy boost.Take note of the pro players on Tv and what they are drinking at the change of ends.Many Players in Beijing are using "ice packs" and cold towels at the change of ends to keep body temps stable.
Qtr Final Match-ups Mens: Blake vs Federer,Mathieu vs Gonzales,Monfils vs Djokovic Melzer vs Nadal Women's:Bammer vs Zvonarena ,S William's vs Dementieva , V Williams vs Li ,Safina vs Jankovic

1st Big Name Falls at Olympics Tennis

BRITAIN'S Andy Murray crashed out of the Olympic singles tennis competition in the first round.He lost 7-5, 6-4 to Lu, who is ranked 77th in the world.And Serena Williams gives her rating on where the Olympics place for her "For tennis players, our main goal is the Grand Slams," she said. "The gymnasts, for example, their main thing is the Olympics, and they get one, maybe two shots at it."Read the Full report here
Closer to home THREE Tennis South Canterbury players' skills and potential have been recognised again.Geraldine Prisk, Gabrielle Grady and Elliot Darling have been chosen for the first stage of Tennis Southern's high-performance programme.The trio make up half the number who have been invited to attend a camp to be held in Dunedin on August 23 and 24.The August camp will be delivered by the Academy of Sport South Island, Sport Otago, and Tennis New Zealand Tennis director of coaching Peter McCraw.

Key Ingredient to Sporting Success -Tennis Talent Identification

Talent identification is a key component to any sports success.In New Zealand on the tennis side this area has not yet been truly explored, but i am sure there are plans ahead for a National Talent identification program.Participation of youngsters in any New Zealand sporting code is often determined by tradition eg rugby , netball,ideals,desire to take part in a sport by its popularity,parental pressure,schools speciality often driven by a teachers preference and their own sporting background and of course proximity of sports facilities especially in major city's.For Coaches and elite national programs hoping that individuals have chosen the correct sport in any code let alone tennis is simply not good enough.

Sporting codes in various country's have developed specific methods to identify talented individuals.Whilst the world is focusing on Beijing and China this is an example of a country with different talent identification and implementation compared to western country's such as New Zealand.Its important to note in China's case that two very important factors are keys to their sucess.1.Its backed and totally funded by the Government. 2. And access to the worlds largest population.They have established 1,782 sports schools catering for 185,000 athletes.Their projection that 10% of these athletes will ascend to elite level.The success of this can be seen over the next two weeks.

This story gives an example of what is happening in china "A Chinese table tennis star tells when she was 7 scouts came to her school and had all the children try to throw 3 balls in a bucket 10 feet away.All kids that got the three balls in the bucket where whisked away for three hours training a day.This player turned pro at 11 years of age by that time she was training 8 hours a day".

Here in New Zealand the success of an athlete will be determined by their junior development program with factors such as where one lives,socio-economic status,training facilities,coaching and competition exposure are all key components for the "big picture" of becoming an elite junior tennis player.


This is Part 1 as I explore several factors on making an elite junior tennis player in a local environment

LET THE GAMES BEGIN !!!!!

Tennis will not be taking "center stage" in Beijing,there will be other great story's and triumphs in other events where athletes have been training for the past 4 years to full fill their sporting dream.Many athletes in various sports have been working part time jobs to help offset their training costs unlike the tennis "stars" who have just come off Wimbledon where the grass is "greener" .Whilst the Olympic Gold medal is the ultimate for most athletes , tennis players still regard winning a Grandslam singles at Wimbledon,The French Open,The US Open or The Aussie Open a far greater prize than Olympic Glory.Whilst it will be a great competition you will be watching recorded matches and highlights as the True Olympic sports take precedence.The Tennis will provide its "upsets" ,2nd Seed Nadal faces a tough road to the finals possible second round match up with Aussie Hewitt and the Qtrs maybe against in form Murray then a Semi Final against Djokovic,Federer has a more friendlier draw but may meet in the 3rd round Tomas Berdych, the man who beat him in Athens four years ago.Women's top seed Ana Ivanovic opens against Ukraine's Mariya Koryttseva and Jelena Jankovic should have little trouble against Cara Black of Zimbabwe.Americans Venus and Serena Williams,are in opposite halves and will be favourites to progress for a repeat of their clash in the Wimbledon singles final.The games atmosphere is entirely different to a normal tennis event and there will be some tennis players that will simply just "enjoy" the moment, Punters dont bet your house, if History of Olympic tennis events are anything to go on there will be upsets .Visit the official Beijing Olympic Web Site here

Its a Political Game - Australian Tennis about too take stock ,once again

Australia is a proud tennis nation with a great history of tennis champions.Questions have been asked once again what is happening with the structure and High Performance program as again the National program is losing top juniors who elect to go elsewhere.Former Top Aussie Jason Stoltenburg has recently had a very Public Feud with Craig Tilley Tennis Australia's Player Development Manager and Australian Open Boss.Tilley hired Stoltenberg - former world No.19, coach of Lleyton Hewitt and a man passionate about reviving Australia's international standing - as a national coach three years ago. Stoltenberg quit because of extreme frustration with Tiley's ideas.Stoltenburg had this too say "I've worked for Tennis Australia. I've been at the coalface of player development. It is basically a low-level college system. I've come to the conclusion that unless there are changes, and unless there are changes now, this country will become irrelevant as a tennis nation" and he went on to say this about Tilley "Craig is a massive control freak," Stoltenberg said. "Unfortunately, I think he's made it personal between us. From him, it's my way or the highway. His ideas and my ideas on how to become a world-class professional are poles apart."
Read the full 4 page story here

Last week the Sydney Morning Herald suggested that Tennis Australia's President Geoff Pollard may be on borrowed time as the board and presidency of Tennis Australia is up for re-election in October.Should Pollard be "rolled" then CEO Steve Wood and Craig Tilley could be looking for new jobs after that meeting.Link to the story

And now John Newcombe an Aussie legend has said Tennis Australia's player development program was not expert enough to lift Aussie talent Chris Guccione to the upper echelon of world tennis. Perhaps he had a point, because now Guccione has left the Tennis Australia-Australian Institute of Sport set-up to resurrect his stalled career with private coaching.The Link is here to that story

A week in anyones life can sometimes be longer than one hopes for, Tilley a South African who has had a remarkable coaching career is starting to feel the heat.Watch this space for further developments.

Cuthill goes down in three sets Qtrs Mens Special Singles Sawtell(Aus)

Invercargill's Oliver Cuthill(NZ) started strongly winning the first set 6-2 against Grafton's Jamie Firth(18)but Firth found another "gear" winning the next two sets 6-2 6-4.Cuthill had won his previous two rounds in convincing fashion 6-1 6-1 against 14 year old Matthew Wenta and then took out veteran Stevan Strong 6-2 6-0.In the men's Open Singles Top Seed Nineteen year old Mathew Hogan(ACT) looks hard to beat beating Tomas Willis 6-0 6-0 in the Quarter Finals. Willis had beaten Cuthill in the Main draw.For Cuthill now, he will be taking up a Tennis Scholarship with the University of New Orleans later this month.Finals will be completed today at this tranquil seaside location.

Cuthill "crashes" out of 2008 Sawtell RSL Seaside Open

Oliver Cuthill was defeated by 16 year old Tomas Willis(Qld)6-3 6-4 ,in the round of 32. Earlier Cuthill defeated Alex Wilson (NSW) in his first match 6-1 6-2 to set up the encounter with the 10th seed Willis.Willis attacked the backhand of Cuthill and was able to gain early control in crucial points by exposing this side.Cuthill had his chances in the Second set however bad choice in shot selection on big points proved costly.Cuthill's first serve percentage for the match was not high.Sawtell's surface is a mixture of clay and synthetic grass and Cuthill was always going to struggle in adapting from Hardcourt's.Willis comes off the Rod Laver 16s where he lost his quarter final match up 8-0.Cuthill is still in the Men's Special Singles, which is the second tier men's event and seeded players in the Open Events cannot enter. 11 of the top 16 seeds in the Open Event where under 17 years of age.Cuthill
will take on 14 year old Mathew Wenta in his first match, whilst expected to win older players certainly don't enjoy playing the younger guys and this could be closer than expected.Sawtell Tennis Club is situated in the beautiful Sawtell Reserve, surrounded by many sporting facilities not far from Coffs Harbor NSW. They have a total of 12 courts; eight clay courts (much envied by other clubs in NSW) and four artificial grass courts.It is a traditionally strong tournament this year attracting over 300 entries and is always played on "Bank Holiday" weekend in Australia.

Why Tennis Player's Olympic Preparations can be somewhat Different to other Olympic Sports

For many athletes the preparation for the 2008 Olympics started 4 years ago.They hope to peak right at the time of Competition in Beijing for their particular sport.For tennis players especially among the the World's Best, Grandslams are their main focus and "peaking" for these are priority.Tennis this year has attracted a strong field, Of the top 20 men, 17 will compete in Beijing; and there will be 18 of the top 20 women.Who does remember who wins Olympic tennis medals?. Who can remember that Stefan Edberg won the bronze medal in 1988 or that the Williams sisters won doubles gold in Sydney, or that Mardy Fish won the silver medal in Athens 2004?And Nicolas Massu won gold in the Men's at the last games.For many athletes going to the games they are still truly amateurs in their representative sport compared to their
"elite" tennis counterparts. Whilst many are hoping that the Federer/Nadal rivalry will continue in Beijing,the tennis players really enjoy an atmosphere that is unique to them, standing along side of the other Worlds best Athletes is a moment they will remember, and this moment may be the highlight many are looking for and the medals at the end may all seem insignificant to winning a Grandslam . Look for upsets and punters beware.Read what the Irish Times has to say about big time sports at the Olympics

If Nadals Not the Best Player in the World at the moment! Who is?

Highlights Of Nadal beating Kiefer in Toronto Masters Final

The Key To Success

All sports fight for the "dollars" ,funding is a crucial element of any sporting organization.One of the biggest hurdle is spending the "money" in area's that will increase 1.Participation and 2.Making your sport a success on a National and International scale.An even balance must be achieved never forgetting the grass route levels but also spending the money correctly at the top also.One of the wealthiest national body's are the LTA
England and they have been under achievers for many years considering the amount of funds they have in the "coffers".Not long ago, Brad Gilbert was paid a reputed £750,000 a year by the LTA to coach Andy Murray, making him the only player on the ATP Tour to have his coach paid for by a nation’s governing body.The all star coaching team amassed by the LTA goes beyond Gilbert. There is Paul Annacone, the former coach to Pete Sampras and Tim Henman; Carl Maes, who guided Kim Clijsters to the top of the women’s game; Nigel Sears, an Englishman who has worked with Amanda Coetzer and Daniela Hantuchova; Steve Martens, the former Belgium Davis Cup captain; Jens Gerlach, coach to Anastasia Myskina when she won the French Open; and Martin Bohm, who once worked with many of the top Swedes and Greg Rusedski.Educated guesses are that the LTA are spending £2.5m a year at the top end and very little at the bottom end.What Tennis New Zealand could do with that sort of money it equates to over $6 million nz. Tony Hawks a journalist has led recently through the newspaper a push highlighting the need for money to be spent wisely and more evenly through the system.You can read his articles at and also .Here in New Zealand junior players wanting to succeed at tennis face a huge financial commitment.A promising junior with a high national ranking in New Zealand can expect to be facing a budget such as this.Equipment:includes rackets,shoes,balls,and attire $1000 Coaching:includes lessons,Fitness training and camps $7280
Competition:includes travel,hotel and entry fee's $8650 so a yearly total is around $16,930.00. Elite juniors face these figures,and the fact is that too get better Tennis players at this level cannot do it just in New Zealand itself.I'm sure that if funding was available more players at this level would stay in the sport and improve New Zealands World standing. At the moment for a junior wanting to do well internationally in New Zealand the "Key to success" is dollars. Your comments would be appreciated .

ITF Weekly Round Up

This week's results we start at the South African Airways Junior ITF 2008 Grade 2 .The boys event result was Ashley WATLING (GBR) (8) defeated Liang-Chi HUANG (TPE) (5) 6-4 6-1 link to results here New Zealanders participating Riki MCLACHLAN (R1) loss to Alexander BULL (GBR) ,Ben MCLACHLAN (R1) loss to Japie DE KLERK (RSA) and Logan MACKENZIE (R1) loss to Pieter BECKER (RSA).The girls event was won by Chanel SIMMONDS (RSA) (4) defeated Polina VINOGRADOVA (RUS) (7) 6-3 6-1 .Results.Brussels International Junior Tournament 2008 Grade 5 The boys results Florian FALLERT (GER) defeated Benjamin DEVOS (BEL) 7-5 6-3 Link and the girls event Laura BERNARD (BEL) defeated Elke LEMMENS (BEL) 7-5 6-4 Full resultsInternational Flower Bulb Tournament 2008 Grade 5 Netherlands Boys results David THOMSON (GBR) (1) defeated Scott GRIEKSPOOR (NED) (5) 6-1 6-4 Link The Girls event Bernice VAN DE VELDE (NED) defeated Andrea KA (FRA) 6-2 6-3 Results14th Junior Open der Stadt Wel2008
Boys results David GOFFIN (BEL) (1) defeated Arthur DE GREEF (BEL) 6-4 6-1 Link and the girls Lesley KERKHOVE (NED) (1) defeated Sandra ROMA (SWE) (12) 3-6 6-3 6-2 ResultsEgypt International Championships Grade 5 Boys winner Ramy KAMAL AITA (EGY) defeated Vinay KAMINENI (IND) (3) 6-3 6-1 Link and the girls Nour ABBES (TUN) (2) defeated Fareda MOHAMED SAYED (EGY) 6-0 6-0 Results

Girl 8 kicked out from Tennis Tournament

Who would of thought the age of "high tech" coaching would surface in a 10 and under girls singles event in Christchurch New Zealand.An eight-year-old tennis player was kicked out of a Canterbury tournament for receiving instructions via a hidden ear-piece.It was reported that a receiver was concealed under a thick headband. The Tournament referee Rob Wilkinson said that "it was noticed Ana's game had a "heightened degree of questioned calls".The receiver was similar to a rugby referee's earpiece with a box at the base of the back and a cord under the shirt up to the earpiece and headband.
It was the girl's first tournament.The father of the 8 year old said he was only helping his daughter keep the score..I feel sympathy to the junior girl player who would not have known the consequences of what was happening , I must ask in Round Robin event was it nesssary to withdraw the 8 year old from the tournament? The father should have been "pulled aside" and explained this was not acceptable to penalize the girl was "harsh" to say the least.Believe me a 10 and under event in Christchurch is not the WTA tour and whilst officials will say there was little they could do there must of been another way to handle this. I mean what ever the "father was saying via the reciever it wasnt helping ,her scorline was 1-9,1-6,6-4,0-6 before she was withdrawn.Leave a comment was this a harsh ruling? or was the referee correct in this decision.

New Kids on the Block

Not every one makes the Transition of Top Ranked ITF Junior to Top Ranked ATP or WTA.Many talented youngsters are indeed playing on the men's and woman's circuits and not the junior circuit.Tennis is now truly a Global sport and looking at the top 20 in The Boys and Girls shows you just how true this is.Maybe a future grandslam winner will come from one of these ranked juniors. The Boys Top 20 is as follows:

1 YANG, Tsung-Hua TPE
2 TOMIC, Bernard AUS
3 BERANKIS, Ricardas LTU
4 DIMITROV, Grigor BUL
5 RAMIREZ, Cesar MEX
6 KONTINEN, Henri FIN
7 PEREIRA, Jose BRA
8 CUNHA, Henrique BRA
9 HARRISON, Ryan USA
10 GOFFIN, David BEL
11 AREVALO, Marcelo ESA
12 JANOWICZ, Jerzy POL
13 VAZQUEZ-VALENZUELA, Juan ARG
14 GRIGOROV, Alexei RUS
15 STEBE, Cedrik-Marcel GER
16 BHAMBRI, Yuki IND
17 KLAHN, Bradley USA
18 RUFIN, Guillaume FRA
19 SIRIBUTWONG, Peerakit THA
20 KUZNETSOV, Andrey RUS

The top New Zealand boy is Logan Mackenzie who is ranked 108.
The Girls are similar and showing again how global the game is.Two interesting rankings of note are Robson Great Britain , her parents are Australian but did move to England when Laura was very young. It was interesting that her British Passport was only granted a few weeks before Junior Wimbledon , of course Robson went on to win this event, and Joanna Konta the number 12 ranked junior girl although listed as Australian has been in the UK for a number of years and by all accounts will also gain a British passport. My Niece Gabrielle Grady had a few battles with Konta in the 10s age group in Australia.

1 RUS, Arantxa NED
2 HALEP, Simona ROU
3 OUDIN, Melanie USA
4 LERTCHEEWAKARN, THA
5 ROBSON, Laura GBR
6 BOGDAN, Elena ROU
7 BOGDAN, Ana ROU
8 JOVANOVSKI, SRB
9 NARA, Kurumi JPN
10 LYKINA, Ksenia RUS
11 ROMPIES, Jessy INA
12 KONTA, Johanna AUS
13 HERCOG, Polona SLO
14 HOFMANOVA, Nikola AUT
15 KERKHOVE, Lesley NED
16 KUCOVA, Kristina SVK
17 CHERNYAKOVA, Elena RUS
18 HENDLER, Tamaryn BEL
19 MLADENOVIC, Kristina FRA
20 MOORE, Jessica AUS

The highest ranked New Zealander is Sacha Jones at 165. Jones of course is playing more WTA events and currently playing World Team Tennis. ITF junior events are certainly a breeding ground for future champions but by no means a guarantee that the transgression to the senior tour is a foregone conclusion.